M2M Fastest-Growing Connected Device Category

Machine-to-machine (M2M) connections will be the fastest-growing category of connected devices, growing nearly 2.5- fold during the forecast period, at 20‑percent CAGR, to 12.2 billion connections by 2020, Cisco now predicts.

Machine-to-machine connections generally are considered a major subset within the broader Internet of Things category. Where M2M generally refers to machines communicating with machines, IoT includes a wider range of personal devices used by people, such as smartwatches, fitness monitors or perhaps medical monitors.

For many, that is almost a secondary matter. The bigger question is which markets will grow fastest, and reach mass market status, soonest.

Connected home applications, such as home automation, home security and video surveillance, connected white goods, and tracking applications, will represent 47 percent, or nearly half, of the total M2M connections by 2020, Cisco predicts.

Connected healthcare, with applications such as health monitors, medicine dispensers, first-responder connectivity, and telemedicine, will be the fastest-growing industry segment, at 49-percent CAGR.

Connected car applications will have the second-fastest growth, at 37-percent CAGR.

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Gary Kim has been a communications industry analyst and journalist for more than 25 years, and currently works mostly as a content developer (marketing copy, white papers, applied research, conference and blog content).

He speaks often at industry events, has written one book and a half dozen major market studies and 14,000 articles.

His work is noted for its examination of business model issues, especially wireless and mobile.

He recently founded the Spectrum Futures conference for the Pacific Telecommunications Council.

He was cited as a global "Power Mobile Influencer" by Forbes; ranked second in the world for strategic coverage of the mobile business.

He is a member of Mensa, the international organization for people with IQs in the top 2 percent.